Yes, but there is absolutely no need to group for ANY of those things save the operations. At level 21 I was able to solo (with the help of tanky kaliyo) all level appropriate quests and flashpoints on my sniper. As far as guilds I was on relatively recently, Jung Ma server I think, and I couldn't find a guild for the life of me.
Another one of my biggest gripes with the game is how positively lifeless the world feels. Everything is so static and unflinchingly sparse. It was like that at launch and it's still exactly the same. I tried really hard to like it, but it just didn't have anything special going for it.
Warhammer was a great game at launch, it didn't deliver everything it promised but it was loads of fun. It had solid, visceral combat and arguably the best PvP in any themepark MMO to date. EA got it's grubby hands on WAR and SWTOR and turned both into cash grabs after sacking the majority of both dev teams. I think WAR has like, one active developer now.
EDIT: Also, it's one thing to have all the staples of an MMO included and whole different thing to do them correctly.
Not only is there a need to group for most of those things, there's also a want depending on the type of player. Sometimes I like to solo que for PvP to get some quick matches in, other times I like to team up with buddies for a more organized and team experience. Level appropriate Heroic 4's must certainly have to be grouped for, Heroic 2's can sometimes be done solo with a companion. I call BS on soloing a flashpoint, Id love to see you solo Athiss (level 21) as a sniper with just your companion. The population and communities of the servers have seen a huge boost after they bit the bullet and consolidated their servers, plus F2P.
The world as they created it does feel static and lifeless in many places. There are many unclickable nameless NPC's either wandering around just just static rotating their animations. The lack of a day/night cycle also didn't help. They didn't really improve on it that much with the addition of Rise of the Hutt Cartel.
It comes down to people falling for the hype and the game not living up to it at launch. It was a huge lesson learned for many people. Many games were hyped and failed before this, but not on this level. I too spent 150 bucks on the CE and kicked myself in the ass afterwards. Somehow I feel that price point is going to start becoming normal. Unfortunately this has led to many people not even recognizing the additions and changes made to the game since then. It just goes to show you how important it is to get a proper and smooth launch. 2.4 is on the PTS now, a lot has changed from 1.0 to 2.3 and soon to be 2.4. The core of the game still remains. Excellent class stories, main planet story arcs and side quests, events with their own story arcs, decent original flashpoints with much improved ones patched in after 1.0, 8/16 operations with their own story arcs and multiple difficulty settings, multiple PvP warzone types and maps with more to come in 2.4 (4v4 arenas, new huttball map, etc) and a very much alive and functional economy via useful crafting with your companions.
All this being said, the point of this post was to find people that WANT to play it, not bash it or get into a debate of the validity of this game. I do love a debate though.
So if anyone IS interested in playing you can find me on
Prophecy of the Five server, Empire side. I have a guild lined up for operations. They currently have all hard mode operations cleared (still run them to gear new recruits/alts) and are about to start progression Nightmare mode runs. Or we could start our own Operations team and progress from bottom up. SWTOR recently patched in a streaming installation service similar to how WoW does it for those who have to reinstall.
Introvenus - 55 Operative
Taprackbang - 55 Sniper
Skidboot - 50 Mercenary
Alysium - 31 Powertech
